I Couldn't Tell You Before
by SassyRedhead
Summary: A Selvine Oneshot, they need to finally admit how they feel about eachother.


The dance was huge; every SeeD from the garden was there. Cleaning up from the disastrous attacks had taken its toll on the weary soldiers, and they were all ready to cut loose and enjoy themselves. There had been several celebrations and ceremonies for the group that had quickly been considered the saviors, but those were formal and stuffy, everyone had to smile and be mature, and pose for plenty of pictures. This dance had been planned to be as opposite to them as possible. For once there would be no reporters, no cameras, no presidents or adoring fans, just music, punch, and friends.

By the time Selphie got to the party, her friends had already staked out a corner of the hall for themselves. Squall and Rinoa were dancing to the quick beat of the music, Zell was drinking punch and ineptly flirting with Quistis, and Irvine just looked board.

"Hyne, Irvy, what's wrong with you?" Selphie asked.

"Nothing, now", Irvine replied with his trademark charming grin. "I refused to enjoy myself until you got here, so you wouldn't miss anything." Their eyes met, gazes locking so forcefully that neither of them were able to speak. Since the defeat of Ultimecia, Selphie and Irvine had both felt the mounting tension between them. Now that the fear of death was no longer there, their casual flirting had become awkward, a transition to something that neither of them were quite ready for.

"Fine, Quistis, if you won't dance with me then maybe Selphie will." Zell pulled Selphie away from her staring and onto the dance floor. "Let's show those two what they're missing, Selph."

"Those two? What do you mean?" Selphie asked. She knew perfectly well what he meant, but hadn't thought she was that obvious. For all her bubbly demeanor, Selphie wasn't very self assured, and was slightly embarrassed to admit that she was falling for the biggest ladies man around.

Zell let out a frustrated sigh. "Don't do this Selphie; we're best friends, right? You've been spending more time with your cowboy, but we're still best friends. I know what's going on and I don't want you to lie to me."

"You're right." Selphie sheepishly admitted. "There's something going on, but I don't know what. He flirts with me, but he flirts with everyone else too. We spend so much time together, but then he'll treat me like a guy buddy. I can't get inside his head and it's driving me _crazy_!" Selphie laughed but there were the pricklings of tears in her eyes. "I'm falling for him so fast and I have no idea what he feels for me. I'm totally, utterly pathetic."

Now it was Zell's turn to laugh. He twirled Selphie on the dance floor. "No matter what, Selph, you're not pathetic. Liking a guy isn't a crime. I don't know how he feels about you romantically, but I know he likes you, and he fought along side you, which shows he respects you. That's a good start, at least." Zell dipped Selphie low, and then danced over to Squall and Rinoa, where the four of them danced and chatted until Selphie forgot her confusion and worries.

* * *

Irvine was slightly disappointed when Zell dragged Selphie off to dance. A few more minutes, and he might have gotten up the nerve to ask her. He tried to tell himself that it was no big deal, he'd danced with plenty of girls before, and he'd danced with plenty of friends before, but he had never wanted to do things as right and as perfectly with anyone else before. Selphie was the girl of his dreams. She was beautiful, energetic, fun, she needed him without being too clingy, and he needed her like he hadn't known was possible. The fear of rejection paralyzed him whenever he even thought about making a move on her. 

Quistis, having lost her admirer, came to stand by Irvine. "We'd better watch Zell and Selphie, after all, they're showing off for us, aren't they?" she said with a friendly laugh.

Irvine returned her laugh. "He needs to start showing off for you the way you were turning him down. I didn't even know Zell was interested in you, shows how much I've been paying attention."

Quistis leaned her back against the wall. "He's not, really. I think being the odd ones out gets to him sometimes so he wants to be part of a pair too. I know I don't want a boyfriend, not right now, I'm so busy. Still, constantly being surrounded by couples makes you feel like something is missing."

Irvine raised an eyebrow. 'What do you mean, 'surrounded by couples'? Squall and Rinoa are the only couple, and you can't be 'surrounded' by one couple." Irvine's sentence was cut off when Quistis grabbed his hat and swatted him with it. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Irvine Kinneas, you aren't fooling anyone." Quistis declared. "Well, except perhaps for Selphie. You like her?" Irvine nodded. "Do you love her?" He nodded again. "Then stop messing around and tell the poor girl. She needs to know, and she needs to hear it from you."

Irvine's eyes lit up. "Do you know something you're not telling me? Has she said anything to you?"

"She's in just as much denial as you are", Quistis shook her head. "I don't _know_ if she likes you, but I've seen her look at you like she's found what she needs. I've heard her describe her perfect guy and it's you. I've seen her turn people down when she doesn't know why. I've heard her tell the press that there was no one special in her life, then sneak a peek at you to see if you got asked the same question. Both of you have it bad, and I elect you to be the one who breaks the ice."

Irvine was silent for a few minutes. Then he turned to Quistis and whispered, "I'm scared."

Quistis hadn't expected to hear this from Irvine. She had more or less afraid that Irvine would get tired of Selphie and hurt her eventually. The idea that Irvine might be in so deep that the small perky girl intimidated him was comforting. "She's one of my best friends, Irvine. I know her well enough to know that there's something there between you. Just find out what it is already." Irvine would have replied, but Rinoa showed up to make them join everyone on the dance floor.

"Come on, the whole group should be out there!" She yelled over the music. "Let's go!" As Irvine joined the group, he saw Selphie laugh at something Squall just said, and absent mindedly play with the strap to her dress. An irrational surge of jealousy and lust rushed through him until Rinoa poked him in the side and forced his arms into dancing motions. He laughed and began to actually dance. Rinoa could never stand to see anyone be left out or depressed, it was part of what made her work so hard to win over Squall, and it was part of what made the whole group accept her as one of them so quickly. "These are my friends", Irvine thought. "All are my friends, even Selphie. I don't have to be afraid. I can tell her I love her." Irvine leaned in to whisper in Selphie's ear, to ask if she would go somewhere they could talk, but he didn't get the chance. Selphie took his motion as an invitation to dance, and once they were touching, Irvine had neither the will nor the inclination to break it off.

* * *

As the guests of honor, the six friends were among the last to leave. They all chatted and laughed as they strolled in the warm night air. As they began to split up to head to separate dorms, Irvine regained his courage. "Sefie", he murmured. "Come walk with me." 

Selphie wasn't very surprised, after all, she and Irvine had been spending significant amounts of alone time together. "Bye guys", she called to the rest of the group. "See you for brunch tomorrow!" They all waved and said good night, and then Selphie walked with Irvine, humming one of the last songs to play at the dance. "Did you have fun?" she asked.

"Yeah", Irvine smiled. "I did, you?"

"Lots!" she laughed, "I danced and talked and hung out with all my best friends. Isn't that always a great night?"

"Well", Irvine teased. "I didn't expect you to enjoy a dance you weren't in charge of planning."

Selphie wrinkled her nose. "I know! But I couldn't very well plan our own celebratory dance! The committee did a good job though, good music." She returned to humming, but sneaking a look at Irvine, she boldly took his hand in hers. The touch was electric, and while Selphie played it as cool as she could, Irvine was stunned. He stopped walking and turned her to face him.

"I can't do this anymore" he said quietly, barely able to meet her questioning eyes. "Sefie, what are we? What's between us? It kills me to see you and not have you be mine, I can't stand not knowing how you feel, and I need to be around you, always."

Selphie couldn't believe her ears. Every night she would go to bed, playing words like these in her head, pretending Irvine was admitting his love for her. Now, the real Irvine was saying them, holding onto her hands, looking nervous as hell. "Please, Sefie….please say something. Just don't tell me you hate me for this. Tell me how you feel." For Irvine, Selphie's silence lasted forever; he assumed she didn't have the words to let him down easy, when in reality Selphie didn't have the words to tell him she felt the same. After what felt like hours, Irvine dropped Selphie's hand. "I'm sorry" he told her, and turned to walk away.

As he left, he heard a small sound behind him. "Irvy", Selphie whispered. He turned, his eyes full of sadness and disappointment, ready to hear the truth. Whatever he had expected from Selphie, it was not that she would jump up and pull him into the deepest, most passionate kiss of his life. His arms went around her almost instinctively, and returned the kiss. When their lips finally parted, it was only so that Selphie could moan "Irvy" into his mouth. He leaned forward to catch her lips again, and this time curled his fingers through her hair.

Selphie finally broke off the kiss with a slightly embarrassed laugh. "I guess I'm trying to say that I love you. I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner."

"As long as it got said eventually", he replied, pulling her close once more. "I want to be with you, I hope that's alright."

"More than alright", she smiled, "it's the only way I want things to be." With their hands intertwined, they walked back to the dorms.

"For once, I don't mind leaving you at the end of the night", Irvine told her, "because I know I'll get to be with you tomorrow. As your boyfriend, Sefie. As the one you love." He brought their hands up to his lips and kissed the delicate back of her hand.

As the reached Selphie's door, she turned. "Things won't be different in the morning, will they? This will all still of happened, right?"

"Yes", he answered. "I'm not going to lose you now. Sweet dreams, and in the morning we can tell everyone that they were right. We were in love and too dumb to notice." He laughed.

"That sounds great." Selphie smiled, and they practiced their good night kisses until they got it absolutely perfect.


End file.
